By Amy W. Pento, Liverpool High School, Liverpool, NY 13090
¿Cómo se dice?
¿Qué significa? ¿Qué quiere
decir?
Paquete de Diccionario
1
By Amy W. Pento, Liverpool High School, Liverpool, NY 13090
2
¡Nombra esa canción!
Below are popular song lyrics. They have been copied into a popular tranlation site and translated
from English to Spanish and then back to English.
Can you Nombra esa canción?
A. Hoping of the foreigners Above and under the boulevard Its search of the shades At
night Lampposts, people Living hardly to find the emotion hiding, somewhere at night
B. She' s obtained both hands In its pocket and she will not watch Won' to him; watched
of t you in Her hide with love Pocket of In his She obtained I pull ahead around his
finger around you.
C. I know a place Where the Hot grass is really greener, dunked and wild It must have
something in the Geneva water and juice that underneath suck Putting the palms
(exhausted) the Rómpase boys the necks trying to crawl a small glance of informer (in
us).
D. In New York, concrete Forest of where the dreams become, There' s nothing that you
cannot do, Now you are in New York, These streets will make him the sensation release,
the lights will inspire to him leaves, It here for New York, New York, New York.
E. In Spanish I hear that the bells of Jerusalem that the Roman choirs of sound of a
cavalry are singing are my mirror my sword and armor to my misionarios in a foreign
field for some reason I can' t explains to me knows that San Pedro never an honest word
will call my name But that one was when I governed the world.
F. It leaves my door open as soon as a crack (Tómeme please far from here) ' They
cause to me feel so as sleepless (they take me please far from here) Because it makes
the tire of I count ewes (Tómeme please far from here) When I' m far tired also to lower
slept.
G. It fills my cup, congratulations. Watches its dance, as soon as quítelo Pintemos the
city, we' it closed ll it We burn the roof, and we will make then it again We do it, we do
it, we do it, we do it they do and them they do and them, we live he stops above and
hágalo and hágalo and hágalo do, it do, it Do it, do it, do it
By Amy W. Pento, Liverpool High School, Liverpool, NY 13090
3
Translation Sites are Ineffective
I. Original Article in Spanish
Britney Spears y esposo se presentan en entrevista en TV
- Un azafato exasperado que el lunes se escapó del avión accionando el tobogán de emergencia tras
un altercado con un pasajero fue inculpado el martes en Nueva York, anunció la fiscalía, aunque
para muchos es un héroe.
Steven Slater, de 38 años, se convirtió instantáneamente en famoso -incluso en héroe, para algunos
admiradores en redes de internet como Facebook- cuando los medios de Estados Unidos relataron su
controvertido gesto de rebeldía.
El azafato fue inculpado formalmente por la jueza Mary O'Donoghue en un tribunal de Queens, por
cargos que incluyen haber puesto en peligro a los pasajeros, por los cuales es pasible de hasta siete
años de cárcel.
Según la fiscalía, Slater deberá pagar una fianza de 2.500 dólares para no permanecer detenido y
comparecerá nuevamente ante el mismo tribunal el 7 de setiembre próximo.
El incidente se produjo el lunes, poco después de que un Embraer de la aerolínea Jet Blue aterrizase en
el aeropuerto Kennedy procedente de Pittsburgh, dijo una fuente policial de la Autoridad Portuaria de
la ciudad.
Uno de los pasajeros se negó a permanecer sentado y comenzó a recuperar su equipaje de mano,
desoyendo las instrucciones del azafato, con quien se produjo luego un altercado. Slater descargó
entonces dos décadas de frustración por el altavoz, antes de abrir la puerta, accionar el tobogán y huir
del avión.
"¡Ya tuve suficiente!", dijo Slater por el altavoz junto a una serie de improperios. Antes de deslizarse
por el tobogán, tomó la precaución de llevarse un par de cervezas, tal vez para festejar el fin
proclamado de su calvario.
II. Article Translated into English
An exasperated azafato that Monday escaped of the airplane driving tobogán of emergencia after an
argument with a passenger was accused Tuesday in New York, announced the office of the public
prosecutor, although for many he is a hero. Steven Slater, of 38 years, became famous very
instantaneously - even hero, for some admirers in networks of Internet like Facebook- when the
means of the United States related his controverted revolt gesture. The azafato was accused formally
by judge Mary O' Donoghue in a court of Queens, by positions that include to have put in danger the
passengers, by which he is long-suffering of up to seven years of jail. According to the office of the
public prosecutor, Slater will have to pay a guarantee of 2,500 dollars not to remain lengthy and will
again appear before the same court the 7 of next September. The incident took place Monday, shortly
after which a Embraer of the airline Jet Blue landed in the airport Kennedy coming from Pittsburgh,
said a police source of the Harbor Authority of the city. One of the passengers refused to remain seated
and began to reclaim its luggage of hand, desoyendo the instructions of the azafato, with that took
place an argument soon. Slater unloaded then two decades of frustration by the loudspeaker, before
abrir the door, driving tobogán and to flee from the airplane. " I already had sufficient! " , Slater by the
loudspeaker next to a series of insults said. Before sliding by tobogán, it took the precaution to take a
pair of beers, to perhaps celebrate the proclaimed aim of his Calvary.
By Amy W. Pento, Liverpool High School, Liverpool, NY 13090
4
Let’s learn how to properly use a dictionary so you don’t make these mistakes.
Taken from the site http://french.about.com/od/vocabulary/ss/dictionaries.htm
The problem with Spanish – English Dictionaries and Websites
Bilingual dictionaries and websites are essential tools for second language learners, but using them
correctly requires more than just looking up a word in one language and picking the first translation
you see. Many words have more than one possible equivalent in the other language, including
synonyms, varying registers, and different parts of speech. Expressions and set phrases can be
particularly challenging, because you have to figure out which word to look up. In addition, bilingual
dictionaries use specialized terms and abbreviations, a phonetic alphabet to indicate pronunciation,
and other techniques to provide a great deal of information in a limited amount of space. The bottom
line is that there's a lot more to bilingual dictionaries than meets the eye. This year, you will learn how
to properly use a bilingual dictionary and website.
List of bilingual dictionary skills
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Look up unmodified words.
Keep it in context.
Know your parts of speech.
Find the important word.
Understand the dictionary’s shortcuts
Pay attention to figurative language and idioms
Test your translations: Try it in reverse.
1. Look up unmodified words
This is the easiest of the seven skills. Most students know how to do this already but let’s do a quick
review anyway. Dictionaries try to save space whenever possible, and one of the most important ways
they do this is by not duplicating information. Many words have more than one form:
nouns can be singular or plural (and sometimes masculine or feminine): niño, niña, niños, niñas
adjectives can be comparative and superlative: guapo, guapísimo
verbs can be conjugated into different tenses: tengo, tuve, tenía, tenga, tendré, he tenido, ten
If dictionaries were to list every single version of every single word, they'd have to be about 10 times
bigger. Instead, dictionaries list the unmodified word: the singular noun, the basic adjective (in
Spanish, this means the singular, masculine form) and the infinitive of the verb.
For example, you may not find a dictionary entry for the word camarera, so you need to replace the
feminine ending -a with the masculine -o, and then when you look up camarero, you'll find it means
"waiter," so camarera obviously means "waitress."
The adjective bonitos is plural, so remove the -s and look up bonito, to discover it means "green."
When you wonder what tú caminas means, you have to consider that caminas is a verb conjugation, so
By Amy W. Pento, Liverpool High School, Liverpool, NY 13090
5
the infinitive is probably caminar, caminer, or caminir. Look those up to learn that caminar means "to
walk."
Likewise, reflexive verbs, such as se lava and se miran, are listed under the verb, lavar and mirar, not
the reflexive pronoun se - otherwise that entry would run to hundreds of pages!
What is the unmodified form of the words underlined
Ave María por David Bisbal
Porque sin ti no tengo nada
Envuélveme6 con tus besos7
Y ya más nada te pido
Ave María, cuando serás1 mía
Si me quisieras2, todo te daría3
Ave María, cuando serás mía
Al mismo cielo, yo te llevaría4.
Y cuando yo te veo8, no sé lo que siento
Y cuando yo te tengo9, me quemo por dentro
Y más...y más de ti yo me enamoro10
Tú eres lo que quiero
Tú eres mi tesoro
Dime tan solo una palabra
Que me devuelva5 la vida
Y se me quede en el alma
1. ________________________________
6. ________________________________
2. ________________________________
7. ________________________________
3. ________________________________
8. ________________________________
4. ________________________________
9. ________________________________
5. ________________________________
10. ________________________________
2. Keep it in context
Both Spanish and English have a lot of homonyms, or words that look alike but have more than one
meaning. It's only by paying attention to context that you can tell whether cura, for example, is
referring to a "cure" or a "priest."
This is why making a list of words to look up later isn't always a good idea - if you don't look them up
right away, you'll have no context to fit them into. So you're better off looking up words as you go.
This is one reason that automatic translators like software and websites aren't very good - they are
unable to consider context in order to decide which meaning is most appropriate.
Ej: Papel
What does “papel” mean? ______________________
What does “papel” mean in the sentences below?
a. Necesito papel para hacer mi tarea.
______________________
b. Kristen Stewert hace el papel de Bella Swan.
______________________
By Amy W. Pento, Liverpool High School, Liverpool, NY 13090
6
Do you see how the context changes the meaning of the word? You can no longer just look up a word,
ignore the context and take the first entry.
3. Know your parts of speech
Some homonyms can even be two different parts of speech. The English word "produce," for example,
can be a verb (They produce a lot of cars) or a noun (They have the best produce). When you look up
the word "produce," you'll see at least two Spanish translations: the Spanish verb is producir and the
noun is producto. If you don't pay attention to the part of speech of the word you want to translate, you
may end up with a big grammatical mistake in whatever you're writing.
Also, pay attention to Spanish gender. Many words have different meanings depending on whether
they are masculine or feminine (I call them dual-gender nouns), so when you're looking up a Spanish
word, be sure that you're looking at the entry for that gender. And when looking up an English noun,
pay special attention to the gender it gives for the Spanish translation.
Ex: una cereza = cherry
un cerezo = cherry tree
This is another reason that automatic translators like software and websites aren't very good - they
can't distinguish between homonyms that are different parts of speech.
4. Find the important word
When you want to look up an expression, there are two possibilities: you might find it in the entry for
the first word in the expression, but more likely it will be listed in the entry of the most important
word in the expression. For example, the expression de acuerdo (agreed) is listed under acuerdo rather
than de.
The important word is usually a noun or verb - pick a few expressions and look up the different words
to get a feel for how your dictionary tends to list them. The important word tends to be the least
common word. But don’t agonize over which word to look up, sometimes dictionaries and websites
will list an expression in multiple entries.
Circle the word you think might be the most important in the phrases below.
Dar a luz
Dar una fiesta
Casarse con
La media naranja
Llevarse bien con
5. Understand your dictionary's shortcuts
You probably just skip right over the first dozen or so pages in your dictionary in order to get to the
actual listings, but a lot of really important information can be found there. I'm not talking about things
like introductions, forewords, and prefaces (although those can be fascinating), but rather the
explanation of conventions used throughout the dictionary.
By Amy W. Pento, Liverpool High School, Liverpool, NY 13090
7
In order to save space, dictionaries use all kinds of symbols and abbreviations. The system your
dictionary uses symbols and abbreviations to explain pronunciation, to indicate things like word
stress, old-fashioned and archaic words, and the familiarity/formality of a given term, part of speech,
context, country of usage, etc. These terms will be explained somewhere near the front of the
dictionary or as a link on a webpage.
All of these symbols and abbreviations provide important information about how, when, and why to
use any given word. If you're given a choice of two terms and one is old-fashioned, you probably want
to choose the other. If it's slang, you shouldn't use it in a professional setting. If it's a Spanish term, a
Paraguayan might not understand it. Pay attention to this information when choosing your
translations.
Here’s a list of a few abbreviations:



abr abreviatura - abbreviation
adj adjetivo - adjective
adv adverbio - adverb



Agr agricultura - agriculture
Anat anatomía - anatomy
antic uso anticuado - old-fashioned use
6. Pay attention to figurative language and idioms
A lot of words and expressions have at least two meanings: a literal meaning and a figurative one.
Bilingual dictionaries will list the literal translation(s) first, followed by any figurative ones. It's easy to
translate literal language, but figurative terms are much more delicate. For example, the English word
"blue" literally refers to a color - its Spanish equivalent is azul. But "blue" can also be used figuratively
to indicate sadness, as in "to feel blue," which is equivalent to sentirse triste. If you were to translate
"to feel blue" literally, you'd end up with the nonsensical "sentirse azul."
The same rules apply when translating from Spanish to English. The Spanish expression Es la última
gota is also figurative, since literally it means "It is the last drop." If someone were to say this to you,
you'd have no idea what they meant. Es la última gota is an idiom - an expression that you can't
translate literally - it is the Spanish equivalent of "It’s the last straw."
This is yet another reason that automatic translators like software and websites aren't very good they can't distinguish between figurative and literal language, and they tend to translate word for
word.
7. Test your translations: Try it in reverse
Once you've found your translation, even after considering context, parts of speech, and all the rest, it's
still a good idea to try to verify that you've chosen the best word. A quick and easy way to check is with
a reverse look-up, which simply means looking up the word in the new language to see what
translations it offers in the original language.
For example, if you look up "purple," your dictionary might offer morado, violeta and púrpura as the
Spanish translations. When you look up these two words in the Spanish-to-English part of the
dictionary, you'll find that violeta means "violet," while púrpura means "red-violet" and morado means
“bluish-purple” and also a “bruise”.
8
By Amy W. Pento, Liverpool High School, Liverpool, NY 13090
Usando www.wordreference.com
Cuando vayas al sitio www.wordreference.com, verás esta pantalla (screen).
Usa este para buscar una
definición en español de
una palabra en inglés.
Usa este para buscar
una definición en
inglés de una
palabra en español.
1. Escribe fuerte en la caja SPANISH TO ENGLISH y haz clic Search. Debes llegar a esta pantalla
(screen).
(Siguiente página)
9
By Amy W. Pento, Liverpool High School, Liverpool, NY 13090
1. Start your search by
finding the correct part
of speech. Fuerte is an
adjective, adverb, and
noun.
2. Next, scan the blue
words in the parenthesis.
They tell you the general
use of the word.
3. Then, scan the blue
words in the < >. They
tell you in what specific
sense the word is used.
4. The words in bold show you
phrases that use the word fuerte.
Look closely at what you’re reading.
Is fuerte being used in a phrase? If
so, these will save you a lot of time.
Anytime there is an
abbreviation that you
don’t understand, click
here.
The small “m” tells you
that the word it’s defining is
masculine.
10
By Amy W. Pento, Liverpool High School, Liverpool, NY 13090
2. Escribe strong en la caja ENGLISH-SPANISH y haz clic BUSCAR. Debes llegar a esta pantalla
(screen).
1. Start your search by
finding the correct part of
speech. Fuerte is an
adjective, adverb, and
noun.
2. The numbers, the words in
parenthesis and the words in < >
help you make the exact choice.
These are the single most helpful
part of the website. Do not
ignore these.
3. The words in bold show you
phrases that use the word strong.
Look closely at what you’re
reading. Is strong being used in
a phrase? If so, these will save
you a lot of time.
Conj. will conjugate the
verb for you.
The letters (f, m) tell you
the gender of the Spanish
word you’ve chosen.
(Strong continúa a la siguiente página)
By Amy W. Pento, Liverpool High School, Liverpool, NY 13090
These are a list of phrases
using the word strong. They
use abbreviations to explain
them.
V = verb
Nm = noun, masculine
Nfpl = noun, feminine plural
11
12
By Amy W. Pento, Liverpool High School, Liverpool, NY 13090
3. No se puede meter ni acentos ni tildes en la caja. Escribe la palabra sin ellos y aparecerá las
palabras posibles.
Escribe mas (sin acento) en la caja SPANISH TO ENGLISH y haz clic BUSCAR. Debes llegar a
esta pantalla (screen).
If the word exists without
an accent or tilde, it will
appear first. Note: mas =
but. That is why I mark it
wrong on your papers all
the time!
If the word exists with an
accent or tilde, it will come
next.
Summary of strategies:
1. Look up unmodified words: Below is a paragraph taken from a news article. Of the underlined
words, decide what the unmodified word would be and write it on the space provided.
Sarah Boutwell spent three hours Tuesday taking the first part of her comprehensive English Regents
exam at C.W. Baker High School in Baldwinsville. On Wednesday, she and thousands of students across
the state woke up ready to take the second part of the test. She, like many others, quickly learned it was a
snow day. What might have been good news for some turned out to be bad news for many Central New
York high schoolers, including Boutwell, who were caught between two days of the English Regents.
Many now will have to retake the entire exam. "We don't think it's fair that we should have to redo
something we have already done and let our hard work go to waste," said Boutwell, 16, a junior. The
English exam wasn't the only Regents test that was scheduled for Wednesday. Other state exams canceled
by the snow day in Central New York include French, Spanish, physical setting/earth science, U.S. history
and government, and science.
By Amy W. Pento, Liverpool High School, Liverpool, NY 13090
a. Spent
b. Hours
c. Taking
d. Students
e. News
f. Scheduled
13
= ________________
= ________________
= ________________
= ________________
= ________________
= ________________
2. Find the important word: Below is the same paragraph. Of the underlined words, decide what
the important word is in each expression and circle it.
Sarah Boutwell spent three hours Tuesday taking the first part of her comprehensive English Regents
exam at C.W. Baker High School in Baldwinsville. On Wednesday, she and thousands of students across
the state woke up ready to take the second part of the test. She, like many others, quickly learned it was a
snow day. What might have been good news for some turned out to be bad news for many Central New
York high schoolers, including Boutwell, who were caught between two days of the English Regents.
Many now will have to retake the entire exam. "We don't think it's fair that we should have to redo
something we have already done and let our hard work go to waste," said Boutwell, 16, a junior. The
English exam wasn't the only Regents test that was scheduled for Wednesday. Other state exams canceled
by the snow day in Central New York include French, Spanish, physical setting/earth science, U.S. history
and government, and science.
a.
b.
c.
d.
spent … hours
to take … the test
turned out
go to waste
3. Keep it in context: Below is the same paragraph. Of the underlined words, decide what the
Spanish equivalent is and write that word on the space provided. Pay attention to context.
Sarah Boutwell spent three hours Tuesday taking the first part of her comprehensive English Regents
exam at C.W. Baker High School in Baldwinsville. On Wednesday, she and thousands of students across
the state woke up ready to take the second part of the test. She, like many others, quickly learned it was a
snow day. What might have been good news for some turned out to be bad news for many Central New
York high schoolers, including Boutwell, who were caught between two days of the English Regents.
Many now will have to retake the entire exam. "We don't think it's fair that we should have to redo
something we have already done and let our hard work go to waste," said Boutwell, 16, a junior. The
English exam wasn't the only Regents test that was scheduled for Wednesday. Other state exams canceled
by the snow day in Central New York include French, Spanish, physical setting/earth science, U.S. history
and government, and science.
a. spent
b. take
c. exam
d. students
e. state
f. like
g. will
h. fair
i. hard
= ________________
= ________________
= ________________
= ________________
= ________________
= ________________
= ________________
= ________________
= ________________
By Amy W. Pento, Liverpool High School, Liverpool, NY 13090
14
4. Know your parts of speech: Below is the same paragraph. Of the underlined words, tell what part
of speech it is. If you don’t know your parts of speech, please refer to the bottom of p. 6 of your
Reference Packet.
Sarah Boutwell spent three hours Tuesday taking the first part of her comprehensive English Regents
exam at C.W. Baker High School in Baldwinsville. On Wednesday, she and thousands of students across
the state woke up ready to take the second part of the test. She, like many others, quickly learned it was a
snow day. What might have been good news for some turned out to be bad news for many Central New
York high schoolers, including Boutwell, who were caught between two days of the English Regents.
Many now will have to retake the entire exam. "We don't think it's fair that we should have to redo
something we have already done and let our hard work go to waste," said Boutwell, 16, a junior. The
English exam wasn't the only Regents test that was scheduled for Wednesday. Other state exams canceled
by the snow day in Central New York include French, Spanish, physical setting/earth science, U.S. history
and government, and science.
a. taking
b. ready
c. quickly
d. snow
e. fair
f. let
g. work
= ________________
= ________________
= ________________
= ________________
= ________________
= ________________
= ________________
5. Understand your dictionary’s shortcuts: Below are some of the more common abbreviations
used at WordReference. Write what they mean. You may look them up on the site if you need to.
a. adj
b. adv
c. AmL
d. Biol
e. BrE
f. colloq
g. conj
h. Dep
i. f
= ________________
= ________________
= ________________
= ________________
= ________________
= ________________
= ________________
= ________________
= ________________
6. Pay attention to figurative language and idioms: Below are future expressions of the week. On
the first line, write the literal (word by word) translation. On the second line, write the proper
translation.
a. No pegué un ojo.
b. Me quemé las pestañas.
c. Nos agua la fiesta.
d. ¿Qué mosca te ha picado?
e. Es un pez gordo.
f. Hacer buen papel.
g. Es más fácil que el pan.
________________________ ________________________
________________________ ________________________
________________________ ________________________
________________________ ________________________
________________________ ________________________
________________________ ________________________
________________________ ________________________
By Amy W. Pento, Liverpool High School, Liverpool, NY 13090
15
¡Practiquemos con www.wordreference.com!
The words in this next section have many translations in Spanish.
1. Use www.wordreference.com and choose the best Spanish for each italicized word.
2. Write the word chosen on the line. You do not need to write the sentence nor conjugate any
verbs.
3. If your word is not there, you must still write something on the line.
a. Type in another word from the sentence. The word may be part of an idiomatic
expression.
b. Type in a synonym. Try to be very specific.
A. Mean
1. My mom is so mean.
____________________
2. What’s the class mean on the exam?
____________________
3. What does that word mean?
____________________
4. I mean it!
____________________
5. I didn’t mean to.
____________________
6. You mean a lot to me.
____________________
7. Boy, he is really mean-spirited.
____________________
8. They mean well.
____________________
B. Strong
9. That coffee is too strong.
____________________
10. The economy is strong. (yeah, right!)
____________________
11. Alberto has a strong accent.
____________________
12. She has strong beliefs.
____________________
13. The defense had strong evidence.
____________________
14. That child is certainly strong-willed.
____________________
C. Safe
15. They’re safe and sound.
____________________
16. Put this in your safe deposit box.
____________________
17. I called her, just to be safe.
____________________
18. It’s safe to say you will pass the class.
____________________
By Amy W. Pento, Liverpool High School, Liverpool, NY 13090
D. Try
19. I tried the chicken.
____________________
20. He’s going to try out for the team.
____________________
21. Try on the blouse.
____________________
22. I gave it a few tries.
____________________
23. The judge tried the criminal.
____________________
24. Try harder!
____________________
25. You try my patience.
____________________
26. At least I tried.
____________________
27. Try it out on Tito first.
____________________
28. I tried all the windows and doors!
____________________
29. It’s hot out.
____________________
30. We bought a hot tub.
____________________
31. Hot off the presses!
____________________
32. Those jalapeños are hot!
____________________
33. We ordered hotcakes.
____________________
34. They’re in hot water for coming home late.
____________________
E. Hot
35. We visited the hot springs while at Yosemite. ____________________
36. She’s full of a lot of hot air.
____________________
37. They hot-wired the car and took off.
____________________
38. Open the window! I’m hot.
____________________
39. Want a hot dog?
____________________
40. Wow, they’re pretty hot! Hubba, hubba…
____________________
16